A prior art of U.S. patent application of Ser. No. 09/507,892 filed on Feb. 22, 2000 (now granted) by the same inventors of this application disclosed a rib assembly for multiple-fold umbrella including a plastic intermediate rib (23) obtained by injection molding process to form a cross section of H shape. The intermediate rib (23) is integrally formed with an inner joint and an outer joint by molding process for pivotally connecting other ribs of the rib assembly. Either inner or outer joint of the intermediate rib (23) should have an xe2x80x9cenoughxe2x80x9d width in order for properly connecting the relevant ribs and therefore can not be minimized to form a slim umbrella rib, thereby causing heavy weight, and inconvenient handling.
Meanwhile, a conventional control means of an automatically opening and closing umbrella including a push button and a rope is not formed as a compact unit and may not be operated quite smoothly.
The present inventor has found the drawbacks of the conventional umbrellas, and invented the present multiple-fold umbrella ergonomically constructed and manipulated.
The object of the present invention is to provide a multiple-fold automatic umbrella including a central shaft, a rib assembly including a top rib, a stretcher rib, at least an intermediate rib and a tail rib pivotally connected one another and pivotally connected to the central shaft, an opening spring, a plurality of closing springs and a control device for controlling the opening and closing of the umbrella; with the intermediate rib formed by extrusion molding process to have a cross section of two-lobe shape having an inner joint and an outer joint respectively connected on opposite ends of the intermediate rib for pivotally connecting inner and outer ribs of the rib assembly for obtaining a light-weight and proper strength of the rib assembly.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a multiple-fold automatic umbrella including a control device having a multiple-fold rope respectively wound on a plurality of rollers respectively rotatably mounted on a lower runner and an upper notch generally disposed on a single side of the central shaft for an ergonomic assembly and maintenance; and a closing latch pivotally mounted in a push button of the control device, which can be smoothly pivoted and can be biased downwardly by plural tubes of the central shaft when closing the umbrella to prevent from unexpected closing of the umbrella after opening the umbrella.